"Great. Rain," Daniel muttered as he stepped outside the Cheyenne Mountain Complex for the first time in nearly two days. Where the hell had he parked his car anyway? Couldn't he just go back inside and get some more work done? It wasn't like Jack was actually going to be in the mood to have him around tonight anyway. Not after that ear-splitting argument they'd had earlier in the day. Daniel tensed with renewed anger just thinking about it.
If he hadn't promised Sam, he would turn around and go back to his office. Sam hadn't witnessed the explosion between Jack and him, but she must have heard about it because she sought out Daniel and extracted his promise to show up at Jack's for pizza and videos just like they'd all agreed last week. He wouldn't break his promise to Sam, but he dragged his feet all afternoon until it was just too late to delay any longer. Now he was driving to Jack's in a pouring rain barely concentrating on what he was doing. Instead, his mind replayed the argument over and over: the version where Jack threw him off the team, humiliating him in front of the entire SGC; the version where he himself shouted unspeakable things at Jack, then backed them up with his fists; the version where Hammond sided with him and court-martialed Jack; where Hammond sided with Jack and handed Daniel over to the NID. Over and over. Every conceivable (and inconceivable) scenario, most of them anger-filled with not a single redeeming moment.
By the time Daniel arrived at Jack's he was so worked up he had no idea how he was going to behave normally for the next few hours. He didn't bother to knock. He pushed open Jack's front door and immediately heard the sound of intense voices.
"No, Carter. Enough."
"But, sir..."
"He's off the team, Carter. Final decision."
"Colonel, you can't. You know how important this is to him."
"He's a screw-up. He's not dependable."
"He works hard, sir. Give him..."
"Not hard enough. He's had plenty of chances. That's it. Not on my team."
Daniel stopped breathing.
// run //
A tiny whisper in his head. Daniel stood still.
// RUN! //
Suddenly Daniel was at the end of Jack's driveway, running. Not stopping. His heart pounded out of his chest, the blood pulsing past his ears deafening him to everything else.
// Off the team. Screw-up. //
His legs pumped beneath him, carrying him . . . somewhere. It didn't matter where - just away.
// Run! Not on my team. //
His lungs heaved. Rain soaked him, ran off his hair, dripped in his eyes. He ran. He must have crossed a street - headlights flashed and a horn blared. He ran. His feet hit grass in the neighborhood park, slipped, kept moving.
// Not dependable. Run! //
Past the picnic table. Past the swings. He tripped, hit the ground on his hands and knees, pain shooting up his thighs and forearms. Someone shouted his name. He pushed himself up and ran. The rain was cold on his face. The tears were warm. He splashed through puddles, heedless of the muddy water kicking up around him.
// Run, run, run! Plenty of chances. No more chances. RUN! //
His foot skidded across a mossy root. He flailed for balance. Lost. Pain twisted in his ankle as he went down. Hard. He choked out sobs of pain and frustration while his ankle throbbed with hot pain.
*****
"Not on my team." End of discu-" Jack's head whipped toward the door at the sound of a gasp that was neither Carter nor Teal'c. Daniel? Jack glimpsed his friend's stricken face just before Daniel turned and bolted down the front steps. What the hell? . . . Oh. . . . Oh shit.
"How much of that did he hear, Carter?"
Carter stared at him blankly, not catching on. Not understanding what Jack understood.
"Sir?"
"I believe he heard a great deal, O'Neill."
A great deal. Too much. Too much and not enough. Damn.
"Colonel? What-"
Carter still wasn't cluing in. Well, she'd have to ask Teal'c; he figured it out. Jack was wasting time standing here. He flew out the front door. Daniel had a good head start - and apparently a huge "flight, not fight" burst of adrenaline. He was moving fast. Jack could keep him in sight. Catching him was going to be an altogether different story. Jack shouted Daniel's name, but it dissolved in the wind and rain. He doubted Daniel would have heard it anyway.
// Geez Daniel! // Jack's heart dropped into his stomach as Daniel ran into the street oblivious to the car bearing down on him. He didn't even slow down when the driver laid on the horn. Jack followed more carefully, but had to dodge a car himself to stay within sight of Daniel.
Daniel fell, hitting the ground on hands and knees. // Stay down, Daniel. Let me get to you. Let me explain. // But Daniel propelled himself off the ground at a run. Jack's knees were starting to give notice that this marathon chase was a really bad plan, but the anguished look he'd seen on Daniel's face was making the decisions at the moment. Jack ignored his knees and stayed on Daniel's trail.
Jack winced even before he heard Daniel's cry of pain. An instant earlier Daniel's arms flailed and Jack watched one leg fly out from under Daniel, while the other twisted awkwardly as he fell. This time Daniel didn't get up.
Jack closed the gap between them, slipping and sliding to a halt on his knees next to Daniel. He drew in deep lungful of air, catching his breath. Then he placed one hand on Daniel's shoulder and turned Daniel's downcast face toward his own with the other. Tears slid from the corners of Daniel's reddened eyes, mixing with rain. Characteristically, he was biting his lower lip, but it looked to Jack like he was about to bite clean through. Damn, his leg must hurt. He was shaking too. Though whether it was from cold, exertion or just plain misery, Jack wasn't sure.
"Baseball," Jack said quietly. "The SGC baseball game. I will not have Airman Clint Trevor on my team this year. You can't depend on him to catch anything, and he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if he threw the bat at it."
Daniel stared up at him. Jack waited, hoping to see understanding light Daniel's eyes. Daniel didn't disappoint him, though the light was shadowed with uncertainty.
"That - that's what you and Sam were arguing about?"
Jack nodded.
"Not you, Daniel. Not you." He took another deep breath. "Daniel, I know things have been a little rough between us. And that argument this morning was . . . well, ugly. But things aren't that bad. It'll never be that bad with us, Daniel. Never."
Daniel closed his eyes with a heavy sigh and leaned his forehead against Jack's shoulder.
AI feel like an idiot," he mumbled into Jack's shirt.
Jack chuckled.
"I can understand why you thought what you did," he said gently. "Coming in halfway through that conversation."
"I feel like an idiot, I'm soaking wet, freezing and my ankle hurts."
"Yeah, about that," Jack said. He settled Daniel back against the nearby tree trunk and moved to get a better look at the injured ankle. It was already swollen, but at least no bones were sticking out. He probed a bit with his fingers. Daniel winced, but Jack couldn't feel anything out of place.
"Can you move it?"
Daniel winced again, with a grunt of pain this time, but moved his foot back and forth at the joint.
"Good. Let's get you back to the house."
Daniel looked up at their surroundings for the first time.
"Damn, how far did I run?" he asked wearily.
Jack grinned.
"Little late to be thinking about that now, isn't it? Come on. Up you go."
"Jack?" Daniel was limping, leaning heavily on Jack as they made their way across the park.
"Yeah?"
"You're gonna let me play on the team aren't you?"
"Of course I am."
"Cause I can't hit the broad side of a barn with a bat either."
"Ah, but the difference between you and Trevor is you can pitch, Danny-boy," Jack said. "Of course, that assumes you can even walk to the mound by then," he amended, looking doubtfully at Daniel's swollen ankle.
"I heal fast."
Jack looked up at the insistence in Daniel's voice. Jack could see physical pain etched on his face, but Daniel was smiling- as though the emotional marathon of the last half hour had never happened.
// Yeah, Daniel. You do. //
© January 8th, 2003 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.